Erwinia sp. PSI-03 Promotes Plant Growth and Detoxifies Selenite Through Selenium Nanoparticles Biosynthesis.
Li L, Li H, Liu Q, Chen C, Wu S
Summary
PubMedWhy it matters This matters because it could lead to safer, more nutritious vegetables grown in selenium-contaminated soils, reducing both the risk of toxic selenium entering our food and potentially boosting the selenium content of crops in deficient regions.
Scientists discovered a beneficial bacterium that lives inside plants and has a clever trick: when it encounters toxic selenium in the soil, it converts it into tiny, harmless particles. While doing this detox work, the bacterium also releases natural compounds that act like growth boosters and plant immune support. This means the bacterium could help farmers grow healthier crops in polluted soils while also making those crops more nutritious.
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A soil bacterium called Erwinia sp. PSI-03 can neutralize toxic selenium in the soil by converting it into harmless nanoparticles, while simultaneously producing compounds that help plants grow better — even under high-selenium stress conditions.
Key Findings
Erwinia sp. PSI-03 produces spherical selenium nanoparticles averaging 57 nm in diameter both inside and outside the bacterial cell under 2 mM selenite stress.
Selenium detoxification occurs via two parallel pathways — one enzyme-driven (sulfite reductase, cysI) and one chemical (via glutathione and l-cysteine) — operating simultaneously.
Selenite stress paradoxically stimulated the bacterium to produce plant-growth-promoting compounds, including the auxin precursor indole-3-pyruvate and the defense hormone salicylic acid, boosting plant performance even at high selenium levels of 12 mg/kg.
Abstract Preview
The mechanisms of selenium (Se) oxyanion transformation in endophytic bacteria remain poorly understood, which limits their application in biofortification and phytoremediation. Here, we investigat...
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